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Essay on Confucius
Confucius became famous as a sage, or wise man, of China during the Age of Philosophers. His Five Classics have influenced the civilizations of most of eastern Asia. Confucius was born in the state of Lu when local rulers refused to pay homage to the emperor of a failing Chou dynasty. Confucius hated the disorder that ensued and looked back on a time when things like that were not even thought of. He studied the teachings of the sage s whose teachings and influences had made China one whole nation at one time. He decided that he was the one who should restore the faith and practices of the old emperors and wise men (Bennett,1968). Since Confucius was not able to gain an official position in China, he spent most of his life teaching a core group of disciples. The main idea of Confucius philosophy was to provide rules and traditions for every conceivable situation in every day life.
He was concerned with all the misery in the world, and he hoped that making men noble would bring about a noble world. Confucius ideas of being benevolent to one s fellow man, closely following set rituals, and acting in a manner proper and befitting one s social class became the state followed ideology during the Han dynasty.1 When studying the religion and philosophy of Confucius, one must have a clear understanding of the books he wrote. The Five Classics were from the period preceding the Warring States Period. They were brought together and edited by the members of Confucius original school. Once Confucianism was made China s official philosophy, a person had to study these five books in order to gain a prized governmental position. Saying that there are only five classics is a bit of a misstatement...................
